I am ranting...total venting for a few purposes. In hopes that it will allow me to sleep knowing I have purged. It will move the adorable chunky thigh picture of my sweet baby closer to archives where it will rest further away from scanning scary predator's eyes. And because...it's what blogs are for I guess. I hope no one in particular takes this personal, as I'm not targeting anyone that I can think of off the top of my head, although I may step on some toes. I've just had a crappy week as far as corporate America goes...
I am still disgusted. In light of recent events in my life which I may or may not disclose in this post I am just so utterly disgusted (because I can't think of a better word) that I am literally sick to my stomach. I don't mean to come off as better than, or preach as if I have never walked in the hooves of the herd mentality crowd, but...damn. I cannot believe that so many individual people stand up as a whole-a corporation, a hospital, a school, a "board" and instill policy and procedure. I am so flipping sick of policy and procedure!!! When did we go so digitalized that the individual person became a nobody, a single number in a sea of trillions of numbers? An unimportant person simply because of the fact that it's an individual person? Is anyone else here totally disgusted by the words "unfortunately, it's against our policy so blah blah blah?" Has it always been this way? Is there a place in this glorious country of ours that looks at the person for the person? That puts aside the "way it should be" the "policy of the company" and actually considers the situation in front of them? Is it only a matter of filling out the form, signing off on the line, closing the file and resting assured that our job is done right? How wonderfully selfish! Do we not consider the lives we are affecting by our actions? What if we just half ass tried to help the desperate person asking human to human for help on the other end of the phone line? What if we looked at the person standing at our desk and just for a fraction of a second put ourselves in their shoes? What if we considered the person who we are about to sign off for the sake of the company policy? What if we actually had feelings for the other humans around us, or just tried to even make eye contact? Perhaps that trait in and of itself would hold much more importance in our society. Perhaps we would see less people completely emotionally detached. Perhaps maybe our prescription rates for anxiety and depression would lower because perhaps there would be someone out there who actually heard us and even just pretended to understand our unique situation instead of prompting us in a prerecorded voice to press button number 9 if we need to implode.
Who are we defending anyway? The head of these multimillion dollar organizations who sit on boards with fellow millionaires and make these procedures, handing them down for the man at the bottom to follow with scrutiny for the sake of a barely more than minimum wage job. (and in many cases minimum wage is actually more accurate) They never have to see the human beings they step on, they just cash in. And society as a whole is lumped into a statistic that is covered by a policy, taken care of by a manual full of procedures. It's everywhere...in the handbooks you sign from your kids school at the beginning of every single year, in the registration forms you fill out at your doctors office yearly, it's posted on the wall of your grocery store.
I'm not anti rule. I'm not even anti butt covering, in fact, in this state I am a firm believer in butt covering. The part that irks me more than anything is the lack of human compassion. We have lost the ability to look another person in the eyes and make a judgement for ourselves that they are not trying to "get one over" on the company or on the individual in the customer service position, but they are merely another human being in a crappy place that needs to be heard, and needs some help. Is it really worth the argument over a receipt when the gallon of milk is obviously curdled? Shouldn't school discipline be dished out on an individual basis and not based on a handbook? And should your doctor really be able to make health decisions based on a packet of information you hastily signed months ago in a waiting room? Is it that much to ask to look one another in the eye and pretend for just a moment that we are having a human interaction that requires human skills? Or listen with your ears to the person on the other end and consider the desperation of their situation as part of your decision on what to do? If these heads of companies are willing to hire you, shouldn't that include that they trust your judgement of the people you are servicing?
Somewhere along the line we all got lost. Or may be it's just me. It's really really lonely sometimes. I wish and hope and pray that perhaps all of us, give it a shot. Try looking someone in the eyes today. Try listening to the whole story. I'm not saying lose your job or give the finger to the man. But what a difference we could all make if we just had a little compassion for our fellow humans walking this planet by our sides. It sure would be nice if I felt I stood a chance before I was shut down mid sentence by policy. Even that I was just heard and understood before I got the "unfortunately..." line. Perhaps everyone who reads this can take it to heart, even for a day and show a bit of humanity. Some frazzled mom of four solo parenting while her partner is out of town working may just break down in tears and hug you in gratitude. And you may just be blessed by the fact that you helped someone-you might even feel human again yourself.
Thank you for listening to my midnight rant. I think I can sleep now. If somehow I disturbed anyone, please press 9 and I will get back to you at my earliest convience.
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